Things that annoy me at Costco...

-Everyone thinks that they are in a bigger hurry than you are
-People walk extremely slow and take up a huge amount of space in the middle of the isle (the carts are too big to manever and they really need a fast and slow lane)
-The self check out does not accept cash, and there is no sign telling you this (I had to find out the hard way on Saturday)
-There are no express lines
-The parking lots
-The gas lines
-Forgetting that the employees always need to check your receipt on the way out the door (after Ive placed it in my purse and have my hands full on the way out)
-My daughter wanting to try every (and I mean every) sample they offer (even the ones I know she won’t like)
-People never smile at you
-The one isle I always need to get through is roped off because someone broke something
-You can never spend less than $200 (which is why Ive started to take cash out of my account beforehand)
-I never know where to put the 40 rolls of toilet paper Ive purchased
-Everything has to come in sets of two, at least sets of two, even if you do not need 2 coffins or 2 plasma tv’s

Stuff That Makes My Heart Stop Beating....

There have been a few times in the past 2 1/2 years where my heart has almost stopped beating from being worried. You know that feeling when your stomach clenches up and you feel like time stands still? The first one I had was when I went into labor with Ava. She was almost 4 weeks early, boarder-line preemie, and my labor was an absolute nightmare (maybe if I regain some courage I will post on that sometime!). We had to stay in the hospital for 10 days total after having her because she had to have a bit of extra care after her delivery. I remember having that feeling every day while we were in the hospital. It was not a fun thing to experience with your first child. As if becoming a mother for the first time isn't hard enough!

Well, I had one of those moments yesterday too. It was just a normal Sunday afternoon. Ava had run upstairs to get her 'play' cell phone and purse (because she loves mimicking me) so we could play 'house' (which is where she acts like the mommy and I act like her child). All of the sudden I heard the loudest THUMP in our entryway. My heart stopped beating. Seriously. You see, we have a loft upstairs with all of her toys in it. One of the walls only goes up 1/2 way to the ceiling (so you can look down from it). I thought she had somehow climbed up there and then fallen over. Don't get me wrong, she would have had to of moved a table or one of the love sacks over to the wall, in order to climb over it (which is impossible for someone her size) but my initial reaction was that she had fallen over the ledge. I screamed "AVA!" and ran to the entryway. What I found was my bible laying right there on the floor (was this God's way of telling me something?). It had been sitting on the ledge since we had just returned home from church and she must have pushed it over the edge when she went up there to get her purse. It was the biggest relief I had experienced in a long time. Here is a photo so you can see just how far she would have fallen. I guess now looking back on it, there is no way she could have pushed something over to the wall, but in that moment I couldn't think about anything else!

New Couch

There is nothing better than a nice hand-me-down. I know some people refuse to take hand-me-downs, but I love them! When we bought our first home, we had a few rooms that did not have furniture in them (mainly because we vowed not to go crazy and spend crazy amounts trying to furnish our house), but slowly over the year we've seemed to come accross some great deals searching online and recieving some great hand-me-downs. My aunt and uncle graciously gave us their leather couch for the family room (which was only occupying my piano and some love sacks until now). It really makes the room and our house feel more complete!

Should I Be Worried?

All of these pictures worry me for different reasons. The first one is obvious. My husband and I found a tarantula in our house yesterday. Okay, I'm not sure if it was really a tarantula. It had 8 legs, hair, and was jet black. Does anyone know what kind of spider this is? Anyways, it totally freaked me out. If you know me, you know I'm TERRIFIED of spiders. Thank the Lord that Josh was home when I came upon this little guy (actually quite large guy). Otherwise I would have had to call the exterminator.

The picture of Ava doing her make-up worries me. She is such a girly-girl (which is fun for me) but also frightening at the same time. It seems she is constantly getting into my make-up, high heels, jewelry, and lotions. It can make quite a mess if I don't catch her right away! She is also the sassiest little thing I've ever met. I am in for a wonderful and exciting journey in her teenage/adolescent years. It is sad how fast she is growing up. This picure of her posing in her little mermaid nightie reminded me of how big she's getting. (This was a hand-me-down from my best friend's little girl and as you can see it's been put to good use!)

The last picture worries me because it has been like pulling teeth around our house to get Ava to eat anything these past few weeks (unless it's Pizza). I know that this is very common in toddlers. It's just very frustrating! She makes it seem like torture to finish all of her bites before leaving the dinner table. And now shes lost a bit of weight and her pants don't fit. I wish I had this problem. Any suggestions? I need some!

"Heroes"

If you read this post, (and I know you), please do not talk about the show Heroes in front of me. The new season just started, but my husband and I are still trying to get through the first one on netflix.com. I understand this is alot to ask, but a few major things have been spoiled for me as I listen to you talking about it (you know who you are). I don't want to spoil it anymore than it already is! I guess it's our fault for not getting involved until now though. But the intentional comments have got to stop!

Feeling Anxious

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I have been feeling a bit anxious with everything going on right now in our economy, with the presidential debates, companies being forced to be bought out, etc... I've listened to experts talk about what is to come. I've tried to take their advise as best as I can. And I'm waiting.....I don't really know what I'm waiting for. It's kinda like the hype that started with the whole Y2K thing (remember that? when it turned midnight on January 1st, 2000 and all of our computers were supposed to crash or something like that!). I don't know what I'm waiting for. I feel like we're prepared, and I have faith that our God will provide. It's hard to feel encouraged right now though. Everyone is so scared. Maybe we have a reason to be, but I do have faith that we will survive. I read a verse today that inspired me. What are all of you doing for encouragement right now?

“[Praise to God for a Living Hope] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”- 1 Peter 1:3

Pink Eye

It's going around again. Ava has a bad case of pink eye. Luckily we took her to the doctor in time and it should clear up in a few days (they put her on antibiotics). I absolutely hate seeing my daughter when she doesn't feel good. She has a fever too. Plus, her eye looks like she got into a fight or something. It is swollen, red and itchy. Not fun! I think we will be cuddling alot today and washing our hands every 2 minutes.

On another note, Ava said something last night that was pretty dang cute. She was supposed to be coming with me to my friend Nicole's house so we could watch her 2 kids for a couple of hours. Ava absolutely loves Nicole and her kids. She gets the biggest smile on her face every time I tell her we're going over there. However, after finding out about the pink eye, I had to explain that she would not be able to go over there with me anymore. She got a really pouty look on her face and said, "Okay, maybe next time? I not want my eyeball to touch their eyeball". It was pretty cute. I think she understood that she couldn't go because of how contagious her thing is. Instead of throwing a tantrum, she realized it was in the best interest of everyone. Okay, maybe I'm looking into this way too much. I mean, she's only 2. It was just really cute, so I had to share!